Bit patterned magnetic media data format

ABSTRACT

In an implementation, a media drive comprises bit patterned magnetic media and one or more modules. The one or more modules are to cause data to be written on the bit patterned magnetic media in a data sector that includes a synchronization mark disposed between data blocks of the data sector.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/987,907, filed on Nov. 14, 2007, theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

In a conventional magnetic media drive, a continuous film of magneticmaterial is typically used to store bits of data. Each bit istraditionally defined on the magnetic material through the action of awrite head of the media drive. Thus, the locations of the bits of themedia drive were traditionally defined by the action of the write headitself and not by the magnetic media on which the bits were written.

In order to increase the amount of bits that may be stored ontraditional magnetic media, techniques were developed to decrease theamount of space consumed by each of the bits on the magnetic media.Thus, the amount of bits that could be stored on a given area of thetraditional magnetic media increased as the amount of space consumed byeach of the bits decreased. However, reliability of the bits to persistdata may also decrease as the amount of space consumed by each of thebits decreases. For example, heat may cause bits to change a magneticorientation when the amount of magnetic material used to store each ofthe bits becomes sufficiently small. Consequently, storage of data usingthese bits may become unreliable.

Accordingly, bit patterned magnetic media has been developed. Bitpatterned magnetic media may physically isolate magnetic material thatis used to store the bits as separate islands. This isolation helpsretain magnetic orientation of the bits and therefore increases thereliability of data storage. However, conventional techniques that areused to write to and read from bit patterned magnetic media may causedata errors.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In an implementation, a media drive comprises bit patterned magneticmedia and one or more modules. The one or more modules are to cause datato be written on the bit patterned magnetic media in a data sector thatincludes a synchronization mark disposed between data blocks of the datasector.

In an implementation, a media drive comprises bit patterned magneticmedia and one or more modules. The bit patterned magnetic media isconfigured to maintain a data sector that includes a synchronizationmark disposed between data blocks of the data sector. The one or moremodules are to read data from the data blocks of the data sector.

In an implementation, a data sector is written on bit patterned magneticmedia by causing a first data block to be written to the bit patternedmagnetic media for the data sector. A synchronization mark is insertedafter the first data block and a second data block is caused to bewritten to the bit patterned magnetic media after the synchronizationmark for the data sector.

In an implementation, a data sector is read from bit patterned magneticmedia by reading a data block disposed between two synchronization marksincluded in the data sector. When a number of bits in the data block isdifferent from a number of bits that are expected to be included in thedata block, the number of bits is modified to form a frame having thenumber of bits that are expected. The frame is output.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different instances in thedescription and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example operating environment that isconfigured to employ bit patterned magnetic media data formattechniques.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example operating environment showing amedia writer module of FIG. 1 in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example operating environment showing amedia reader module of FIG. 1 in greater detail as reading data from bitpatterned magnetic media that was written by the media writer module ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that depicts a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which a data sector having a synchronization markdisposed between data blocks is written.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that depicts a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which a data sector having a synchronization markdisposed between data blocks is read.

FIGS. 6-13 illustrate some examples of various devices that can employbit patterned magnetic media data format techniques.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Techniques to increase the amount of data storage on magnetic mediatraditionally involved decreasing an amount of space used to store eachbit on the magnetic media (or increasing data density on the magneticmedia). However, as a size of each of the bits (the amount of space ofthe magnetic media consumed) decreased so too did the ability of themagnetic media to persist data using those bits. For example, the sizeof the bits may decrease to a point at which heat may cause a change inmagnetic orientation of the bits, such as to cause a bit to be changedfrom a one to a zero and vice versa.

Bit patterned magnetic media was developed to address these issues suchthat an amount of data that may be stored in a given area on magneticmedia may continue to increase. Bit patterned magnetic media isconfigured such that the magnetic material used to store each of thebits is isolated, e.g., formed in islands. This isolation helps themagnetic material retain an orientation, thereby increasing reliabilityof the bit-patterned magnetic media to store data.

However, traditional techniques that were developed to write or readdata from bit patterned magnetic media may corrupt the data. In someinstance, a write head used to write data (e.g., a series of bits) tobit patterned magnetic media may lose synchronization with the bitpatterned magnetic media. This loss of synchronization may then causedata errors as bits of data are added or omitted. For instance, a writehead of a media drive may write bits at a slower rate than a rate atwhich the islands of the bit patterned magnetic media are encountered,thereby causing additional bits to be written to the bit patternedmagnetic media. Similarly, the write head may write bits at a fasterrate than a rate at which the islands are encountered, thereby causingbit omission. Therefore, a loss of synchronization between the writehead and the islands in the bit patterned magnetic media may cause datacorruption.

Bit patterned magnetic media data format is described. In animplementation, a synchronization mark is included within data in a datasector. In this way, an error that occurs before the synchronizationmark in the data sector does not affect data after the synchronizationmark in the data sector. For example, a data sector may include apreamble followed by an initial synchronization mark. Data following theinitial synchronization mark may be formed in blocks delineated by oneor more additional synchronization marks. Therefore, an error thatoccurs in a data block delineated by the synchronization marks does notaffect another data block. A variety of different techniques may be usedto read and/or write data using the bit patterned magnetic media dataformat described herein, examples of which may be found in the followingdiscussion.

In the discussion that follows, example operating environments are firstdescribed that may incorporate the bit patterned magnetic media dataformat techniques. Example procedures are also described that may beemployed in the example operating environments, as well as otherenvironments. In instances in the discussion of the procedures,reference will be made to the environments by way of example. However,implementation of the procedures is not limited to the environmentsdescribed herein. Likewise, the environments and the devices containedtherein are not limited to performance of the procedures.

Example Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example operating environment 100 that isconfigured to employ one or more techniques relating to a bit patternedmagnetic media data format. The illustrated operating environment 100includes a media drive 102 having bit patterned magnetic media 104. Thebit patterned magnetic media 104 is computer-readable to store data as aseries of bits arranged across islands of magnetic material in aplurality of data sectors 106. In the following discussion, the datasectors 106 may be representative of one or more data sectors andtherefore by convention may be referenced as a data sector 106, datasectors 106, a plurality of data sectors 106, and so on.

The bit patterned magnetic media 104 may be formed in a variety of ways.For example, magnetic material used to store bits may be arranged as aseries of islands that are physically separated from each other.Therefore, the bit patterned magnetic media 104 predefines where bitsare to be stored on the media through use of the islands, as opposed toa write head as was traditionally utilized by continuous magnetic mediadevices. In other words, the islands of magnetic material that form thebit patterning may define where bits are storable by the bit patternedmagnetic media. In an implementation, the bits are lithographicallydefined using magnetic material to form the bit patterned magnetic media104.

The media drive 102 is further illustrated as including a media writermodule 108 and a media reader module 110. The media writer module 108 isrepresentative of functionality of the media drive 102 to write data tothe bit patterned magnetic media 104. Similarly, the media reader module110 is representative of functionality of the media drive 102 to readdata from the bit patterned magnetic media 104. Although the mediawriter module 108 and the media reader module 110 are illustratedseparately for purposes of discussion, these modules may sharecomponents of the media drive 102, such as a hard disk head and armconfigured to read from and write to the bit patterned magnetic media104.

As previously described, errors may occur when a write head is notsynchronized with a pattern of magnetic material that is used to storebits on the bit patterned magnetic media 104. In particular, bitinsertions and omissions may occur when a write head progresses at arate that is slower or faster than a rate at which individual islands ofmagnetic material that are used to store bits are encountered.Conventional error correction codes employed by traditional media drivesare not well suited to correct bit insertions and omissions. On theother hand, error correction codes that are designed for bit insertionand/or omission may have a relatively low rate of performance.

The media writer module 108 and the media reader module 110 areillustrated as including respective synchronization modules 112, 114.The synchronization modules 112, 114 are representative of functionalityof the respective media writer and media reader modules 108, 110 toemploy a data format for the data sectors 106.

The data format specifies inclusion of a synchronization mark 116 withindata in a data sector 106, such as between the first and second datablocks 118, 120 illustrated for data sector 106 in FIG. 1. Thus, anerror that occurs on one side of the synchronization mark 116 isconfined to that side of the synchronization mark 116 and does notspread to another side of the synchronization mark 116. For example, awrite error that occurs in the first data block 118 does not corrupt thesecond data block 120. Thus, in this example the synchronization mark116 is included within a data payload of the data sector, furtherdiscussion of which may be found in relation to the following figure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example operating environment 200 showing themedia writer module 108 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. In the operatingenvironment 200 of FIG. 2, data 202 is illustrated as being received atthe media writer module 108. The data 202 may originate from a widevariety of sources, such as an application executing on a computer thatemployed the media writer module 108, from a wireless interface, withinthe media drive 102 itself (such as for re-encryption of data stored onthe bit patterned magnetic media 104), and so on.

The media writer module 108 includes an error correction code encoder204 that is representative of functionality of the media writer module108 to encode the data 202 in accordance with one or more errorcorrection techniques. For example, the error correction code encoder204 may add check bits to the data 202. The check bits may be used tohelp recover the data 202 in an event that an error occurs when readingor writing the data 202 to the bit patterned magnetic memory 104. Avariety of other error correction code techniques are also contemplated.

The synchronization module 112 is illustrated as including a dataformatter 206 and a mark insertion module 208. The data formatter 206 isrepresentative of one or more modules that are configured to format datareceived from the error correction code encoder 204 for writing to thebit patterned magnetic media 104.

For example, the data formatter 206 may construct information that isused to form the data sectors 106. The information may include apreamble 210. The preamble 210 identifies a given data sector 106 fromother data sectors 106 included on the bit patterned magnetic media 104such that data sector 106 and consequently data in the data sector 106may be located.

The information may also include an initial synchronization mark 212that is used to identify where data is located in the data sector. Theinitial synchronization mark 212 indicates from what part of the datasector 106 the data is available. The information constructed by thedata formatter 206 may also include a post-amble 214 that identifies anend of the data sector 106. The data formatter 206 may form each of thedata sectors 106 to include a matching amount of data, although othernon-matching implementations are also contemplated. Other informationmay also be provided by the data formatter 206 to form the data sector106.

The mark insertion module 208 is representative of functionality of themedia writer module 108 to insert one or more synchronization marks, anexample of which is illustrated by synchronization mark 116. Thesynchronization mark 116 is illustrated as within a payload of the datasector 106 that includes the first data block 118 and the second datablock 120. Therefore, if an error 216 were to occur in the first datablock 118, the error 216 would not affect the second data block 120 andvice versa, further discussion of which may be found in relation to FIG.3.

Although a single synchronization mark 116 is illustrated as within thepayload of the data sector 106, additional data sectors 106 may beincluded at regular intervals. Additionally, the synchronization marksinserted by the mark insertion module 208 may bound the data in thepayload of the data sector 106. For instance, synchronization marks 116may be configured to define an expected size of data blocks in the datasector 106 by being disposed on both sides of the data blocks. In thisway, the synchronization marks 116 may be used to indicate whether a bitinsertion or omission occurred when writing and/or reading the data 202to the data sectors 106, further discussion of which may be found inrelation to FIG. 5.

In an implementation, the synchronization mark 116 may have a lengththat is less that the initial synchronization mark 212 to conservestorage space available on the bit patterned magnetic media 104. Inother words, the synchronization mark 116 may be formed from less bitsthan the initial synchronization mark 212. A variety of other examplesare also contemplated.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example operating environment showingthe media reader module 110 of FIG. 1 in greater detail as reading datafrom the bit patterned magnetic media 104 that was written by the mediawriter module 108 of FIG. 2. The media reader module 110 is illustratedas including a signal processing and data detection module 302, asynchronization module 114 having a data formatter 304, a mark detectionmodule 306, and an error correction code decoder 308.

The signal processing and data detection module 302 is representative offunctionality of the media reader module 110 or read bits from islandsof the bit patterned magnetic media 104. For example, the signalprocessing and data detection module 302 may determine a magneticorientation of each island of magnetic material of the bit patternedmagnetic media 104 and compute a corresponding one or zero for a bitstored on the island.

The data formatter 304 is representative of one or more modules that areconfigured to read a data format employed by the data sectors 106, suchas the preamble 210, initial synchronization mark 212, post-amble 214,and so on.

The mark detection module 206 is representative of functionality of themedia reader module 110 to read the synchronization mark 116 inserted bythe mark insertion module 208 of the media writer module 108 of FIG. 2.As previously described, the synchronization mark 116 may be used for avariety of purposes, such as to isolate an error 216 that may occur inthe first data block 118 from affecting the second data block 120. Avariety of other examples are also contemplated, further discussion ofwhich may be found in relation to FIGS. 4-5.

The error correction code decoder 308 is representative of functionalityof the media reader module 110 to employ one or more error correctingtechniques. For example, the error correction code decoder 308 mayrecover the data 202 in an event that an error occurs using one or morecheck bits inserted by the error correction code encoder 204 of FIG. 2.A variety of other error correction code techniques may also be employedby the error correction code decoder 308 and the error correction codeencoder 204 of FIG. 2, such as error correction codes designed forbit-insertion and omission and conventional error correction codes suchas Reed-Solomon.

Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implementedusing software, firmware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manualprocessing, or a combination of these implementations. The terms“module,” “functionality,” and “logic” as used herein generallyrepresent software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware.In the case of a software implementation, the module, functionality, orlogic represents program code that performs specified tasks whenexecuted on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The program code can bestored in one or more computer readable memory devices, such as memory,bit patterned magnetic media, and so on. The features of the bitpatterned magnetic media data format techniques described below areplatform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented ona variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety ofprocessors.

Example Procedures

FIG. 4 depicts a procedure 400 in an example implementation in whichdata is written by a media drive (e.g., media drive 102) according to abit patterned magnetic media data format. The following discussion maybe implemented utilizing the previously described systems and devices,as well as other systems and devices subsequently described. Aspects ofeach of the procedures may be implemented in hardware, firmware, orsoftware, or a combination thereof. The procedures are shown as a set ofblocks that specify operations performed by one or more devices and arenot necessarily limited to the orders shown for performing theoperations by the respective blocks.

Data is received that is to be written to a data sector 106 on bitpatterned magnetic media 104 (block 402). For example, the data 202 maybe received from an application executed on a host (e.g., a personalcomputer), received via a wireless network, and so on.

An initial synchronization mark 212 is inserted for the data sector 106(block 404). For example, the data formatter 206 may operate inconjunction with the mark insertion module 208 to cause the initialsynchronization mark 212 to be inserted for the data sector 106. Theinitial synchronization mark 212 is to indicate where the data islocated within the data sector 106.

A determination is then made as to whether a defined number of bits ofthe data have been passed for writing to the data sector 106 (decisionblock 406). For example, the synchronization module 112 may define anamount of bits to be included in each of the data blocks in the datasector 106. When the defined number has not passed (no from decisionblock 406), monitoring continues (repeat decision block 406). When thedefined number has passed (yes from decision block 406), anothersynchronization mark 116 is inserted for the data sector (block 408).For example, the defined number of bits may define a size of the firstdata block 118. This portion of the procedure 400 repeats (no fromdecision block 410 to decision block 406) until the end of the datasector has been reached (yes from decision block 410). Thus, in oneimplementation, each data sector includes a plurality of synchronizationmarks inserted between a given preamble and corresponding post-amble ofthe data sector.

A determination is then made as to whether another data sector is to beencoded (decision block 412). If so (yes from decision block 412), aninitial synchronization mark is inserted for the data sector (block 404)and the procedure 400 continues as previously described. If not, (nofrom decision block 412), the procedure 400 continues to block 402 foradditional data, when received. Thus, in this example, synchronizationmarks are used to define a block size for data included in a data sector106. Thus, data corruption such as bit additions or omissions may bereadily identified, further discussion of which may be found in relationto the following figure.

FIG. 5 depicts a procedure 500 in an example implementation in whichdata is read by the media drive 102 according to a bit patternedmagnetic media data format. The following discussion may be implementedutilizing the previously described systems and devices, as well as othersystems and devices subsequently described. Aspects of each of theprocedures may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or acombination thereof. The procedures are shown as a set of blocks thatspecify operations performed by one or more devices and are notnecessarily limited to the orders shown for performing the operations bythe respective blocks.

In this example procedure 500, a request a received to read data fromthe bit patterned magnetic media 104 of the media drive 102. Thisrequest may originate from a variety of sources, such as an applicationthat is executing on a host that is communicatively coupled to the mediadrive 102, over a wireless network, and so on. In response, the mediareader module 102 locates a data sector 106 that contains the data byfinding a preamble 210 of the data sector 106.

When the data sector 106 is located, the media reader module 110 looksfor an initial synchronization mark 212 (block 502) of the data sector106. In this way, the media reader module may determine where the datais located in the data sector 106.

When the initial synchronization mark 212 is found (yes from decisionblock 504), the media reader module 110 (and more particularly the markdetection module 306) looks for another synchronization mark 116 (block506). When the other synchronization mark is found (yes from decisionblock 508), a number of bits is determined that is located between thelast two synchronization marks (block 510). For example, thesynchronization module 114 of the media reader module 110 may determinethe number of bits located in the first data block 118.

A determination is then made as to whether the determined number of bitsis expected (decision block 512). As previously described in relation toFIG. 4, the mark insertion module 208 may be implemented to insert thesynchronization mark 116 at regular intervals in data in the datasector. In this way, the synchronization module 112 of the media writermodule 108 may define a number of bits that are to be expected in eachof the data blocks (e.g., the first and second data blocks 118, 120).Deviations from the expected number of marks may therefore be indicativeof read and/or write errors.

When the determined number of bits is not expected (no from decisionblock 512), the number of bits is modified to form a frame (block 514)having the expected number of bits. For example, bits may be added bythe synchronization module 114 when the number of bits in the first datablock 118 is less than expected. In another example, bits may be deletedby the synchronization module 114 when the number of bits in the firstdata block 118 is more than expected. In this way, a framed sequence maybe output that includes the modified number of bits to the errorcorrection code decoder 308 (block 516).

The error correction code decoder 308 may then use one or more errorcorrection techniques to recover data. For example, an indication may becommunicated to the error correction code decoder 308 from thesynchronization module 114 that indicates that the number of bits wasnot expected. Therefore, the error correction code decoder 308 may applyone or more error correction techniques for bit insertion or omission aspreviously described. This procedure may continue for anothersynchronization mark in the data sector 106 (yes from decision block 518to block 506) or for another data sector by locating an initialsynchronization mark (no from decision block 518 to block 502).

Device Examples

FIGS. 6-14 illustrate some examples of various devices that canimplement various embodiments of the previously described techniques.For example, any of the various devices can be implemented as a devicethat employs the above described techniques, such as to store data in abit patterned magnetic media data format previously described. Thetechniques may be employed within signal processing and/or controlfunctionality of the devices, examples of which are as follows.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a hard diskdrive (HDD) 600, which includes signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) generally identified at 602. The HDD 600 can also include amagnetic storage media 604 and/or a memory 606, such as random accessmemory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memory such as flash memory,read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitable electronic data storage.In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 602 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, and/or format data. The data can be output to and/orreceived from at least the magnetic storage media 604 and/or the memory606. In addition, the HDD 600 can communicate with a host device (notshown) such as a computer or mobile computing devices, such as apersonal digital assistant, cellular phone, media or MP3 player, and/orother devices via one or more wired or wireless communication links 608.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a digitalversatile disc (DVD) drive 700, which includes signal processing and/orcontrol circuit(s) generally identified at 702. The DVD drive 700 canalso include an optical storage media 704, mass data storage 706, and/ora memory 708, such as random access memory (RAM), a low-latencynonvolatile memory such as flash memory, read only memory (ROM), and/orother suitable electronic data storage. The mass data storage 706 canstore data in a nonvolatile manner, and may include a hard disk drive(HDD) such as described with reference to FIG. 6, which may be a miniHDD that includes one or more platters having a diameter that is smallerthan approximately 1.8 inches.

In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 702 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, format data, and/or any other signal processing functionsassociated with a DVD drive. The data can be written to and/or read fromat least the optical storage media 704 and/or the memory 708. Inaddition, the DVD drive 700 can communicate with an output device (notshown) such as a computer, television, and/or other devices via one ormore wired or wireless communication links 710.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a highdefinition television (HDTV) 800, which includes signal processingand/or control circuit(s) generally identified at 802. The HDTV 800 canalso include mass data storage 804 and/or a memory 806, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memory such as flashmemory, read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitable electronic datastorage. The mass data storage 804 can store data in a nonvolatilemanner, and may include an optical storage media as described withreference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described with reference to FIG.6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or more platters having adiameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8 inches.

In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 802 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, format data, and/or any other signal processing functionsassociated with an HDTV. The data can be output to and/or received fromat least the memory 806. In addition, the HDTV 800 includes a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) interface 808 via which input signals can bereceived in either a wired or wireless format. HDTV output signals canbe generated for a display 810.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a vehicle900, which includes a powertrain control system 902 and, optionally,additional vehicle control system(s) 904. The powertrain control system902 can receive data inputs from one or more sensors 906 such astemperature sensors, pressure sensors, rotational sensors, airflowsensors, and/or any other suitable sensors. The powertrain controlsystem 902 can receive the data inputs and generate one or more outputcontrol signals 908, such as engine operating parameters, transmissionoperating parameters, braking parameters, and/or other control signals.

Additional control system(s) 904 may likewise receive data signals fromone or more input sensors 910 and/or generate output control signals 912to one or more output devices. In various implementations, a controlsystem 904 may be part of an anti-lock braking system (ABS), anavigation system, a telematics system, a vehicle telematics system, alane departure system, an adaptive cruise control system, and/or avehicle entertainment system such as a stereo, DVD, compact disc, andthe like.

The vehicle 900 can also include mass data storage 914 and/or a memory916, such as random access memory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatilememory such as flash memory, read only memory (ROM), and/or othersuitable electronic data storage. The mass data storage 914 can storedata in a nonvolatile manner, and may include an optical storage mediaas described with reference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described withreference to FIG. 6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or moreplatters having a diameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8inches. In addition, vehicle 900 includes a wireless local area network(WLAN) interface 918 via which input signals can be received in either awired or wireless format. The powertrain control system 902 also maysupport connections with a WLAN via the WLAN interface 918.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as atelevision set-top box 1000, which includes signal processing and/orcontrol circuit(s) generally identified at 1002. The set-top box 1000can also include mass data storage 1004 and/or a memory 1006, such asrandom access memory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memory such asflash memory, read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitable electronicdata storage. The mass data storage 1004 can store data in a nonvolatilemanner, and may include an optical storage media as described withreference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described with reference to FIG.6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or more platters having adiameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8 inches.

The set top box 1000 can receive data signals from a source 1008, suchas a broadband source, and can then output standard and/or highdefinition audio/video signals suitable for a display 1010, such as atelevision, monitor, and/or other video and/or audio output devices. Invarious implementations, the signal processing and/or control circuit(s)1002 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any of encoding,decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform data calculations,format data, and/or any other signal processing functions associatedwith a television set-top box. The data can be output to and/or receivedfrom at least the memory 1006 and/or the source 1008. In addition, theset-top box 1000 includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface1012 via which input signals can be received in either a wired orwireless format. The set-top box 1000 may also support connections witha WLAN via the WLAN interface 1012.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a cellularphone 1100, which includes a cellular antenna 1102 and signal processingand/or control circuit(s) generally identified at 1104. The cellularphone 1100 can also include mass data storage 1106 and/or a memory 1108,such as random access memory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memorysuch as flash memory, read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitableelectronic data storage. The mass data storage 1106 can store data in anonvolatile manner, and may include an optical storage media asdescribed with reference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described withreference to FIG. 6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or moreplatters having a diameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8inches.

In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 1104 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, format data, and/or any other signal processing functionsassociated with a cellular phone. The data can be output to and/orreceived from at least the memory 1108. In addition, the cellular phone1100 includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface 1110 viawhich input signals can be received in a wireless format. The cellularphone 1100 may also support connections with a WLAN via the WLANinterface 1110. In some implementations, the cellular phone 1100 caninclude a microphone 1112, an audio output 1114 such as a speaker and/oraudio output jack, a display 1116, and/or an input device 1118 such as akeypad, pointing device, voice actuation, and/or other input device.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a mediaplayer 1200, which includes signal processing and/or control circuit(s)generally identified at 1202. The media player 1200 can also includemass data storage 1204 and/or a memory 1206, such as random accessmemory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memory such as flash memory,read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitable electronic data storage.The mass data storage 1204 can store data, such as compressed audioand/or video content, in a nonvolatile manner. In some implementations,compressed audio files include files that are compliant with an MP3format or other suitable compressed audio and/or video formats. The massdata storage 1204 may include an optical storage media as described withreference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described with reference to FIG.6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or more platters having adiameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8 inches.

In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 1202 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, format data, and/or any other signal processing functionsassociated with a media player. The data can be output to and/orreceived from at least the memory 1206. In addition, the media player1200 includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface 1208 viawhich input signals can be received in either a wired or wirelessformat. The media player 1200 may also support connections with a WLANvia the WLAN interface 1208. In some implementations, the media player1200 can include an audio output 1210 such as a speaker and/or audiooutput jack, a display 1212, and/or an input device 1214 such as akeypad, touchpad, pointing device, voice actuation, and/or other inputdevice. In various implementations, media player 1200 may employ agraphical user interface (GUI) that typically includes menus, drop downmenus, icons, and/or a point-and-click interface via display 1212 and/oruser input 1214.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example device that may be embodied as a Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone 1300, which includes an antenna 1302and/or is implemented in connection with a VoIP box that enables aconventional telephone to be plugged in and utilized with VoIPtechnology. The VoIP phone 1300 also includes signal processing and/orcontrol circuit(s) generally identified at 1304. The VoIP phone 1300 canalso include mass data storage 1306 and/or a memory 1308, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), a low-latency nonvolatile memory such as flashmemory, read only memory (ROM), and/or other suitable electronic datastorage. The mass data storage 1306 can store data in a nonvolatilemanner, and may include an optical storage media as described withreference to FIG. 7, and/or a drive as described with reference to FIG.6, which may be a mini HDD that includes one or more platters having adiameter that is smaller than approximately 1.8 inches.

In various implementations, the signal processing and/or controlcircuit(s) 1304 can be implemented to process data (e.g., any ofencoding, decoding, encryption, and/or decryption), perform datacalculations, format data, and/or any other signal processing functionsassociated with a VoIP phone. The data can be output to and/or receivedfrom at least the memory 1308. In addition, the VoIP phone 1300 includesa Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication module 1310 via whichcommunication links with a VoIP network can be established. In someimplementations, the VoIP phone 1300 can include a microphone 1312, anaudio output 1314 such as a speaker and/or audio output jack, a display1316, and/or an input device 1318 such as a keypad, pointing device,voice actuation, and/or other input device.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1. A media drive comprising: bit patterned magnetic media; and one or more modules to cause data to be written on the bit patterned magnetic media in a data sector, including causing synchronization marks to be written between data blocks of the data sector, the synchronization marks configured such that a bit insertion or a bit omission in one of the data blocks in the data sector does not affect another of the data blocks in the data sector.
 2. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein the data sector includes a preamble, an initial synchronization mark written before the data blocks of the data sector, and a post-amble disposed after the data blocks in the data sector.
 3. The media drive as described in claim 2, wherein one of the synchronization marks written between the data blocks of the data sector has a length that is less than a length of the initial synchronization mark written before the data blocks of the data sector.
 4. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein one of the synchronization marks is written after the data blocks and adjacent to a post-amble in the data sector.
 5. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein the bit insertion or the bit omission occurs when the data is written to the data block in the data sector and the bit insertion or the bit omission does not affect data written to the other of the data blocks in the data sector.
 6. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein the synchronization marks are useful to delete a bit or add a bit to the data block having the bit insertion or the bit omission to form a data frame.
 7. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein the data block having the bit insertion or the bit omission is not the first data block in the data sector and the other of the data blocks is located before or after the data block having the bit insertion or the bit omission in the data sector.
 8. The media drive as described in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further configured to read the data from the data sector.
 9. The media drive as described in claim 8, wherein the one or more modules are further configured to output a framed data sequence having the data blocks to an error correction code decoder.
 10. A media drive comprising: bit patterned magnetic media configured to maintain a data sector that includes synchronization marks disposed between data blocks of the data sector; and one or more modules configured to cause data to be written in the data sector, including causing the synchronization marks to be written between the data blocks of the data sector, the synchronization marks configured such that a bit insertion or a bit omission in a first one of the data blocks in the data sector does not affect a second one of the data blocks in the data sector, and to read the data from the data blocks of the data sector.
 11. The media drive as described in claim 10, wherein the one or more modules are further configured to output a framed data sequence having the data blocks to an error correction code decoder.
 12. The media drive as described in claim 10, wherein locations of bits on the bit patterned magnetic media are predefined on the bit patterned magnetic media.
 13. The media drive as described in claim 10, wherein the bit insertion or the bit omission occurs when the data is written to the first one of the data blocks in the data sector.
 14. The media drive as described in claim 10, wherein the synchronization marks are useful to delete a bit or add a bit to the data block having the bit insertion or the bit omission to form a data frame.
 15. A method comprising: writing a data sector on bit patterned magnetic media by: causing a first data block to be written to the bit patterned magnetic media for the data sector; causing a synchronization mark to be written to the bit patterned magnetic media after the first data block; and causing a second data block to be written to the bit patterned magnetic media after the synchronization mark for the data sector, the synchronization mark configured such that a bit insertion or a bit omission in the second data block does not affect the first data block.
 16. The method as described in claim 15, wherein the data sector further includes: a preamble; an initial synchronization mark disposed after the preamble and before the first data block; and a post-amble disposed after the second data block.
 17. The method as described in claim 15, wherein the synchronization mark is written to the bit patterned magnetic media after the first data block when a defined number of bits of data in the first data block have passed to be written for the data sector.
 18. The method as described in claim 15, further comprising writing an initial synchronization mark for the data sector before the first data block and after a preamble of the data sector.
 19. The method as described in claim 15, further comprising: writing a synchronization mark after the second data block; and causing a third data block to be written to the bit patterned magnetic media after the synchronization mark that was written after the second data block.
 20. The method as described in claim 15, further comprising writing a synchronization mark after the second data block and adjacent to a post-amble of the data sector.
 21. The method as described in claim 15, wherein locations of bits on the bit patterned magnetic media are not defined by a write head. 